Business

BREAKING:BUA To Adjust Cement’s Price, Following Minister’s Import Threats

Published

3 years ago

September 1, 2023

OCHEFA

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By Ocheneyi Alli

The Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul-Samad Rabiu, has revealed that BUA Cement has concluded plans to reduce the cost of its cement across the country as part of efforts to support the federal government’s economic plans.

This development follows a plan by the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, to dialogue with cement manufacturers over reducing the prices of their products.

The Minister, had a week ago, said that contractors have complained over the high cost of cement in the country and made claims that importing the product would be cheaper.

“I’m going to be running figures with them – cement manufacturers, to check the cost of cement if we import it, and the cost they are giving us here,” said Umahi.

In response to the threat of a possible import policy , Rabiu said that his company would reduce the ex-factory price of BUA Cement.

” The idea of increasing production capacity is to see how we can be able drop prices on our part to support the government’s efforts because importation will not be the best solution,” he said at the 7th Annual General Meeting of Bua Cement which was held in Abuja, yesterday.

So if the government threatens to start importing cement, it will even cost them more because the forex is now high and when you bring it through the ports, you must pay taxes, trucking and other levies which will add to the price,

He said that the company intends to achieve its target by improving the production capacity of its cement-producing plants.

“By the end of the year, we intend to have two more production lines on stream which will boost our production capacity by at least 40 per cent to 70 million tons.
“The average price of cement in Nigeria is N4,500 which translates into N90,000 per ton or $100.

So if the government threatens to start importing cement, it will even cost them more because the forex is now high and when you bring it through the ports, you must pay taxes, trucking and other levies which will add to the price,” he noted.

Business

Cardoso Urges Banks To Lend Out Idle Funds With CBN * Retains MPR at 26.5%

Cardoso made the call on Tuesday after the 306th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja from July 20 to July 21.

Published

41 minutes ago

July 21, 2026

OCHEFA

7 Views

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Olayemi Cardoso , urged banks from keeping idle funds with the apex bank and encouraging increased lending into the economy.

Cardoso made the call on Tuesday after the 306th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in Abuja from July 20 to July 21.

The apex bank retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), also known as benchmark interest rate, at 26. 5 percent.

This decision marks the second consecutive retention of the MPR at 26.5 per cent, following a 50-basis-point reduction in February from 27 per cent.

“The committee’s decision to maintain the current policy stand follows a thorough assessment of the balance of risk,” said Cardoso.

He emphasised that although headline inflation moderated marginally in June 2026, global uncertainties have heightened due mainly to the renewed hostilities in the Middle East.

The MPC also adjusted the asymmetric facilities corridor around the MPR to +50/-450 basis points—a move aimed at discouraging banks from keeping idle fund with CBN.

Furthermore, the committee maintained the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks at 45 per cent, retained the rate for merchant banks at 16 per cent, and kept the CRR on non-TSA public-sector deposits at 75 per cent for liquidity management considerations.

Cardoso said despite the global uncertainties, the Nigerian economy has “remained largely resilient to the external shocks”.

Business

CBN admits it opened domiciliary accounts for PFIPC agency

Represented by the Director of its Banking Services Department, Hamisu Ibrahim, the CBN said that the accounts are one in US dollars, the other in British pounds sterling, were opened following a mandate received from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

Published

10 hours ago

July 21, 2026

OCHEFA

16 Views

File photo : PFIPC agency DG, Adeniyi Adeyemi

The Central Bank of Nigeria had admitted that it opened two foreign-currency domiciliary accounts for the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC).

The apex bank made the confirmation, yesterday, during the public hearing convened at the National Assembly Complex by the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the existence and operations of the PFIPC, chaired by Yusuf Gagdi and inaugurated by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

He explained that on July 30, 2025, CBN received a mandate dated July 29, 2025 from the Office of the Accountant-General.

“We received the mandate to authorise two accounts, one a US dollar domiciliary account, the other a pound domiciliary account, for the Presidential Economic Advisory Council/Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council,” Ibrahim told the committee.

He explained the CBN’s verification process, “The process of opening an account requires a mandate from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

“Once we receive that mandate, we perform all the necessary verifications to confirm that this mandate is actually coming from that office.

The department that handles the mandate is different from the department that actually does the account opening,” he said.

Nevertheless, he noted that no one came to activate the accounts after they were opened.“We did not receive any correspondence, mandate, signature or mandate cards. We were not introduced to the authorising or approving officers.“Based on that, those accounts remain inactive, with zero balance. There have been no foreign exchange allocations.